Mass Effect: GotT: Bring Down the Sky
by Reviewer543
Summary: My next installment of Ghost of the Terminus. Shepard has defeated Sovereign and the geth. Now he tries to go back to the Terminus, but there are forces from his past trying to get revenge for his deeds as the Ghost of the Terminus. And what's worse is that they've taken the Normandy's crew! DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING NOR PROFIT FROM THIS!
1. New Sheriff is the Undisputed Best

**Okay so this will be a small story that's going to bridge the events between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2.**

 **So let me do a recap here and then we can get started.** **For those of you who had just come from reading ME1: Ghost of the Terminus, just skip past the recap.**

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Recap of Events that Transpired Previously: John Shepard who was named the Ghost of the Terminus, the vigilante who destroyed the slavers at Elysium and Torfan and also Aria T'Loak's Spectre equivalent, had been granted the rank of spectre in Council space after arriving from Eden Prime. There, Shepard took on the mission of bringing Saren Arterius back for his crimes. In doing so, Shepard was given command of the SSV Normandy and assembled his own team which consisted of different individuals all coming from different species, united under the same cause: Stopping Saren and the geth. Two of his team, he had grown to love greatly while the others had become close to him. The Normandy became like a family to Shepard as they continued their journey, which had its moments. Eventually, after many hardships, they had tracked Saren down only to find out he was merely a puppet for something worse.

The Reapers, an ancient race of machines that came and purged the galaxy of all advanced life every 50,000 years. The Reaper controlling Saren, Sovereign, used the Spectre to breach the Citadel, the Capital of Council space. The Citadel became embroiled in a life or death battle between Sovereign, his geth and the Council's forces. Shepard and his team had managed to keep up with Saren, who was going to give Sovereign control of the Citadel. The battle between the rogue spectre and Shepard's group was even before Shepard had managed to convince Saren that he was being controlled by Sovereign. Saren seeing no other way out, killed himself to stop Sovereign's control. The group took control of the station and summoned the Alliance fleet, which had been cut off due to the relays near the Citadel being deactivated by Saren when he was in control. But Sovereign had one more card to play before being defeated.

He possessed Saren's corpse, twisting and warping the rogue spectre's body until it was a husk unlike any the team had seen before. The Reaper's avatar overwhelmed the team considerably before Shepard unlocked his dormant power, the Overdrive. In this form his biotics were increased to unprecedented levels, managing to turn the fight easily in his favor in a one-on-one death match with the creature. The husk was obliterated by Shepard's power and Sovereign was destroyed. Shepard believing his job in this side of space was done got ready to leave. After speaking with the Council, Shepard was given permission to leave with his spectre access, and his equipment, still active. Before going he was asked to attend a meeting which turned out to be a thank you from the Council as well as the declaration that Humanity would have a seat on it now. He was asked his opinion on who he thought be best for the job. He nominated the man who stood by him while the others in the group turned their backs on him, Captain David Anderson. After making his opinion known he had gotten ready to leave for Terminus space. Before departing, however, he was requested to go to a Council training facility to show the new arrivals there how a team should fight in a series of live-fire situations. Agreeing to it, he set out for Pinnacle Station. Unknown to him however, is that some powers were already moving against him to take revenge for his actions as the Ghost of the Terminus. (Longest recap yet!)

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Now

* * *

The Normandy flew towards the asteroid base silently. The ship came to hover as she lined up with the docking clamps. The clamps magnetized to the hull of the ship before the docking tube jutted out and connected to the door near the cockpit.

 _"Equalizing interior pressure with exterior atmosphere. Logged: the Commanding Officer is ashore. XO Pressly has the deck."_ The Normandy's VI stated as the team was waiting for the doors to open up. They didn't have to wait long as the doors opened to reveal a narrow hall. Shepard walked out first, clad in his shiny and new Colossus armor. His old one had been pretty busted up after battle of the Citadel so he was given a new one. His Master Spectre Gear wasn't as damaged so all they needed was a good cleaning, some minor repair work, a dose of omni-gel here and there and they were good as new. Everyone else was clad in the Colossus armor as well. Their armor had been bought by Shepard at the start of their search for Saren. While their armor had been damaged, it wasn't near the amount that Shepard had taken so their's were repaired and given back.

As they walked through the hall, Shepard briefly glanced out the window and appreciated the view. In the void of space was system's star illuminating the cosmic dust in an orange hue. It was pleasing to look at before Shepard continued on. They walked past a door to find a room full of turian guards. As Shepard walked past he heard a whispered conversation.

"Isn't that Ghost? The human spectre?" One turian with orange pain on his forehead whispered. Shepard kept himself from smirking. So he was heard way out here huh? Not surprising, given all that has happened. The turian across from the first one snorted. This turian was clad in medium titan turian armor with purple markings across his nose and under his eyes. He was obviously of higher rank than the three others in the room considering the were clad in a lighter version of his armor.

"Whatever. Spectre or no, it's always fun to see humans get pummeled in the simulator." He said. Shepard looked at him for a moment studying the turian. The man's tone oozed arrogance. A little too much for Shepard's taste. The turian noticed his gaze as he approached.

"Go pester Ahern, human. I'm on duty." The turian dismissed. Shepard rolled his eyes at him. 'Asshole.' He thought. The team walked through the door, coming to the command centre. This was where the station's operators tended to be as well as the commanding officer. Shepard took notice of the turian construction in the room. The subordinates were down below, in front of the podium where Admiral Ahern was. The view was spectacular. He could see Vebinok and its asteroid belt surrounding it. Shepard approached Admiral Ahern who took notice of him.

"Ah, Ghost. Welcome to Pinnacle Station. I'm Admiral Tadius Ahern." Shepard gave the man a small smile. This one was surprising more pleasant then most of the other Alliance Officers he's met.

"I'm glad I got the invite. Where do we begin?" Shepard asked while dismissing his team so they could look around. The group scattered and began looking at everything.

"You'll be training in the combat simulator. After each round you'll see how you fared against your competitors." Shepard had heard about that on the way over and was curious about it.

"How does the simulator work?" Ahern shook his head.

"Talk to Tech Specialist Ochren if you want the technical explanation. Basically, it creates combat scenarios that allow our operatives to build their skills in a safe, but realistic, environment." Ahern replied. Shepard nodded. It was a great way to train. The fact that this man is an Alliance Admiral means he must recognize such importance that is in it.

"So you run the station and the training here?"

"Last I checked. It's better than a desk job, and a hell of a lot better than retirement. The facility is magnificent. It has all the technological marvels that a commander needs to train the perfect soldier. The turians give their advice. Every so often, I listen to them." Ahern replied. Shepard raised an eyebrow at that? Was there some kind of rivalry here between humans turians?

"How do I try out a combat scenario?" Shepard asked trying to get back on track.

"Go talk to Ochren over in the staging area. He'll set you up and let you choose a scenario." Ahern said pointing to a door downstairs to the right.

"Who will I be competing against?" Shepard asked wanting to know who he needs to show up. Ahern smirked at him.

"The best of the best. Alliance operatives travel here from all over to try their hand at the simulator. The scores are tallied, and the winners appear on these monitors for all to see. Get your name up there, and the entire Alliance will know about it." Ahern said with pride. Shepard nodded with a smirk.

"I'll be fine. My team and I will take this thing by storm." Ahern smirked at Shepard's confidence.

"Fantastic. Is there anything else you need?" Shepard shook his head no before walking away. His team seeing this, followed him. Shepard walked into the observation deck with his team right behind him. He saw several monitors indicated readings that were going on inside the simulator. One in particular he noticed was the scoreboard and he couldn't help but whistle at the time on. Someone by the name of Bryant having finished in 1 minute, 24 seconds and 67 microseconds. He noticed that his name had been added and was at the very bottom with no time at all. Shepard smirked at it.

'Let's see if we can change that.' He thought before walking over a salarian who must have been Ochren. The salarian was looking over the simulator's controls as a krogan came out.

"Get me back in that simulator. Nothing makes my day like stomping synthetics!" The krogan said. Shepard and his team raised their eyebrows. Synthetics? Did they have a simulation with the geth? Shepard looked to where the salarian was again and looked past his station. The window in front of him shown a dark room. It had only a few lights on inside it, making it's size known. It was big. Shepard walked up to Ochren, ready to get this underway. Before he could say anything, though, Ochren beat him to it.

"So you must be the famous Ghost of the Terminus. I'm tech specialist Alud Ochren, lead programmer on the combat simulator." The salarian asked annoyed. "Do you need something? I'm sure I have a few minutes before someone forgets their password and comes crying to me for help." Shepard raised a brow at the salarian. Reduced to tech support almost. Damn.

"What's with the attitude?" Shepard asked. The salarian looked at him with annoyed glare.

"I'm a technical genius on a station full of soldiers who only respect battlefield prowess. It's more than a little frustrating." Shepard couldn't help but sympathize a little. On Omega, it was the same thing except you'd get mugged or killed instead.

"You help keep these soldiers at their best. That's extremely valuable." He offered. The salarian's annoyed look calmed down to a relaxed expression.

"I suppose so. It would be nice just to get credit for it once in a while." Ochren muttered out. At least managed to get the saurian to be a little nicer to him.

"So how does this work?" Shepard asked interested. The salarian seemed to be a little more enthusiastic about explaining it to someone who may understand.

"It's a combination of holographic images and kinetic barriers. Holographic images help you see the objects, and the kinetic barriers keep you from walking through them" Ochren explained. Shepard saw an attempt at humor and decided to make a joke.

"I assume the enemies are also holographic?" The salarian smirked at him.

"No, our operatives train in a simulator by killing real, actual people." The salarian said sarcastically, before sighing and continuing, "They're simulated. But I hear the kinetic slugs hurt just the same." Shepard rolled his eyes. Great, they even got the pain part down. Wouldn't be fun or encouraging without it.

"What are we supposed to do in these simulations?"

"That depends on the combat mode." Shepard's eyes zoomed on Ochren now. Was he saying they had multiple modes?

"We have Time Trial, Capture, Hunt, and Survival modes." Shepard almost wanted to face-palm himself. They wouldn't be doing one show for these guys, they'd be doing four, at least! He actuality he should have seen this coming the moment he saw the smirk on Anderson's face when he told him of this place. No point getting frustrated about it now. Just do it like everything else: Understand and move past it.

"What's my mission in Time Trial mode?"

"You and your squad must defeat all enemies as quickly as possible. The quicker you defeat all enemies, the higher your score." Glaringly obvious. Shepard shouldn't have bothered asking that one.

"What are the Capture mode objectives?"

"Capture all designated control points as quickly as possible. The faster you capture all the control points, the higher your score." Also incredibly obvious.

"What's the goal in the Hunt mode?"

"Defeat as many enemies as you can before the countdown timer reaches zero. You get additional time for every enemy you defeat. The more enemies you kill, the higher your score." Okay, that one he wouldn't have gotten right away. He thought it might've to do with finding some specific target and attack without getting the others.

"What's Survival mode all about?" Although this one he had a good idea.

"Fend of waves of enemies for as long as possible. When the leader goes down, the mission ends. The longer you survive, the higher your score." Yep, he called it.

"I've got it. "

"Splendid." Ochre said sarcastically.

"Let's try a new simulation." Shepard offered.

"New competitors are restricted to low-impact missions till they learn the ropes. The infirmary was starting to complain. Which combat mode? Time Trial, Capture, Survival, or Hunt?" Shepard thought it over. What would be best for him and his team right off the bat? He had it!

"I'll go with survival mode." Ochre began typing into the terminal until he pulled up a screen that had two habits. One was filled with trees while the other was what Shepard thought was a volcano.

"Now, pick a course. Do you want Volcanic or Tropical?"

"I'll go with tropical." Shepard said. Ochre selected it.

"Fine. We give you some dummy grenades and medi-gel. If you try to use a real grenade, I will turn off every safety measure this simulator has." Shepard nodded before walking with his team toward the simulator area.

* * *

A few minutes later

* * *

Shepard and crew were inside, ready for the fight.

"It doesn't have to be pretty, just keep yourself alive." Ahern told them over the comm. A flash of light came over them before a geth started appearing all over.

"And just when I thought I was done fighting geth." Shepard said as he got his assault rifle out. He got shot at instantly before ducking for cover. The firefight roared to life as they were surrounded.

"Dammit Shepard, that medi-gel ain't free." Ahern said. Shepard spray and prayed the geth holograms until they were destroyed. Shepard noticed that their surroundings were similar to Virmire, on the outskirts to Saren's base.

"Everyone! Set up choke points and these two sides! We'll draw them to us!" Shepard ordered before firing at a geth trooper. The squad jumped and got behind the rails near them, using them as cover. Everyone fired as the geth came in to the traps. The time flew by as more geth lined up and were destroyed. As the minutes passed, the geth became more powerful. Where there were once simple troopers, destroyers and juggernauts took their places. Three juggernauts came together. Shepard tossed a dummy grenade at them. The grenade weakened the holograms before the group finished it.

"That's it, Shepard. Give 'em hell!" Ahern commented. Garrus noticed a rocket trooper coming, took his sniper and fired at the rocket launcher it was holding. The rocket trooper and whatever were near it were destroyed.

"Damn, nice shot." Ahern said having seen it. Eventually though, the team was overwhelmed. Their media-gel became whittled down and soon enough, the others couldn't go on but damn having whittled down to after they ran out. Shepard was the only left before he too fell. The simulation finished and everyone left the area. When they came back they saw their score. Time: 15:33:46. That was a record. The squad immediately began resting save for Wrex and Shepard. Wrex was wanting to go back in almost immediately and Shepard, while tired, was getting his energy back quickly. Though he had to admit, they did very well. He knew that while most teams probably consisted of three and from what he was seeing, they did not last that long. Granted his squad, excluding himself, was double that number, but the other teams lasted for a minute and a half. His team alone lasted 8 minutes and he, by himself, lasted nearly as long. Shepard walked around to check the other scores and see if he and his team could set the record on all of them. As he looked around he heard something.

"Back of, Vidinos! I haven't done anything wrong." A human clad in white heavy explorer armor said. The turian he was arguing with was the asshole from earlier. The turian had his arms crossed as he looked at the human. Vidinos leaned in to the human's face.

"If you've tampered with government equipment Bryant, I'll throw you in the stockade." Vidinos threatened as his hand went to his pistol. Shepard approached hoping to keep the peace.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked making both of them look at him. The turian scowled at him before waving his hand at him in a 'shoo' motion.

"Get lost Shepard. This doesn't concern you." Vidinos said.

"Vidinos is just mad that a human beat his record." Ochren piped up from his terminal. The turian scowled at the salarian.

"Shut you mouth, holo-jockey." He snarled, pointing to the salarian. Ochren payed him no mind as he continued working. Vidinos turned back to Shepard.

"Bryant says he scored highest in missions from multiple combat modes. No human's ever done that. He clearly cheated." Vidinos accused. Shepard sighed. Arrogant and a little racist.

"Keep mouthing off, and I'll show you what a human can do." Shepard said, having enough of the guy's attitude. Vidinos snorted at him, unimpressed.

"Threats? Is that all humans can do? Impressive!" Vidinos taunted. Shepard sighed.

"Would you change your mind if I scored highest on those missions?" He asked hoping this would shut the guy up. Vidinos didn't even think about it, obviously believing Shepard wouldn't succeed.

"Tell you what, Shepard. You beat my record, and Bryant won't spend the rest of the competition in the stockade. Hell, if you even come close, I'll give you my weapon." Vidinos said chuckling at the end. Shepard raised an eyebrow at the turian. Most turians wouldn't even think of betting their weapon. Those are too personal. Shepard glanced at the weapons on Vidinos' back. The guy had the complete set of the Kassa Fabrication weaponry. Shepard remembered it was probably the third best in the galaxy, right behind Rosenkov Materials which his team had.

"You can keep your weapons. You losing is all the incentive I need." Shepard shot at him. His face was neutral and cold making the turian freeze for a moment before he chuckled at him.

"I suppose many humans find failure 'fun.' If so, then this is your lucky day. I hope Bryant has something to read. He'll be in that stockade for a long time." Vidinos said before he started to walk away.

"Before you head back to your quarters, you should look at the new high score for the Survivor mission." Shepard called after making Vidinos stop. Shepard walked to where his team was as the turian shook his head before walking to the designated scoreboard. What could that human mean by-! The score was unprecedented. He stormed over to Ochren.

"What is the meaning of this!?" The salarian looked at him before smirking.

"Shepard's whole team went in and came out with that score." Vidinos' anger left him. Of course the human would use his whole team. They had a turian, a krogan and an asari for spirits sake!

"But technically, the team made it to 8 minutes after using all of their medi-gel." Ochren said. The turian stilled at first before his anger started to come back.

"Then why didn't you pull them out?" Ochren smiled at the turian.

"Because it was only Shepard's team that was out. And the rules state the team leader needed to be out. Shepard lasted 7 minutes, alone, after them." That information made Vidinos' heart stop for a second.

"I-It can't be. No human should be able to do that." Ochren chuckled at the turian's rising frantic behavior.

"I saw and monitored the whole thing. There was no holding back, at least no more so then usual." With that information Vidinos walked away, actually starting to feel nervous.

* * *

A couple of hours later

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Shepard and his team did it. They beat Vidinos' scores and set the records on all of them. The Hunt missions were by far the easiest for them considering a majority of their time together had been wiping out all of their enemies on their missions. The Time Trial missions were the second easiest to them. All that was needed race to race against the clock. Hell they started competing against each other to see how many they killed in the match. The Capture missions were so-so to them. It was by no means difficult, but it was boring actually. All they had to do really was spread out or have to go forward taking out any enemy and leave someone to guard the area. Survival missions were also a so-so thing for them considering they never really faced overwhelming opposition before. It did help that the landscapes were changed with each of session of them which spiced it up. Each different landscape made certain missions more difficult.

For the Timed scenarios it was the volcanic. That was usually because it had volcanic activity to a degree.

For the Capture scenarios it was the subterranean stage. That was difficult because there were so many places that could have been and weren't.

For the Hunt missions, it was the tropical one. Again, so many places to hide things.

And in the survival it was the subterranean. That one reminded them of the time they saved Liara considering the stage was shaking and rocks were falling after them. All throughout the missions, Ahern gave glowing praises about the team's performance. And now Shepard was in front of Vidinos.

"Ochren must have changed it! Or... there's a bug in the simulator... You got lucky, human." Vidinos said reluctantly. Shepard looked at him. Throughout the course, he had noticed that Vidinos had kept his scores pretty high. It took something else to be able to win that. Plus, whatever anger he felt toward the turian had been vented on the holograms he fought so Shepard decided to give it to him, this one time.

"You know what, your record was tough to beat, Vidinos. I'll take what luck I can get." Shepard replied. His comment seemed to anger the turian who had taken it as mocking.

"Don't patronize me, Shepard. I'll find out how you did this and heads will roll! Bryant is clear." Shepard's lips almost turned into a smile. "Keep your smug grin to yourself. I'm out of here." Vidinos said walking away. Shepard let him go. No need to kick him while he was down and out. Shepard walked over to Ochren.

"Let's do one more simulation before we leave." Shepard told him.

"Sorry, but you and your team have done all of them. You took the spot everywhere you could. No one's even surprised any more." Ochren said. Shepard sighed. Well, that was that then. Their last get together was over. It was time to call it quits and part ways. Shepard began walking to command centre when he bumped into Ahern.

"Impressive work in there, Ghost." Ahern said to him.

"Thank you. Do you have anything else for me to do before my team and I depart?" Ahern smirked at him.

"Yes, the real match I had requested for you and your team to take." Shepard looked at him with a stunned expression.

"Wait, you had a simulation ready for us when we came here? Then what was the deal with having us do those 12 missions?" Shepard exasperated. That was a lot of time they had spent in that.

"That was all your fault. Besides, Guard Captain Vidinos needed to be knocked down a couple of pegs. And seeing you guys in those simulations were a great way to make sure you were capable of handling this one." Ahern explained.

"Alright, what is it?"

"There's a special scenario I don't get to offer to many operatives. I want you to give it a shot. Look kid, you've done well. But I've been through a lot worse. And it wasn't a simulation. But I could make it one, if you're interested." Shepard looked at him suspiciously. The last few ones in there had been pretty bad, but what could be worse than... Ah, a scenario without the safeties on.

"You have something else I can try?" Shepard prompted. He wanted to know what he was getting into. Ahern nodded with a serious expression.

"It's a reenactment of one of my missions. We held of an ambush of turian assault troops, during the Contact War. Just me and a small squad. I haven't finished programming it yet, but it's close enough. You can try it if you like." Shepard had only known about the First Contact War through the Codex and even with it he still felt that it wasn't enough to go on. To see the carnage of war, between humans and turians, was something he was hesitant about getting into. But then again, he took on a reanimated Saren powered by a Reaper in a kill-or-be-killed fight, so whatever Ahern throws at him couldn't be as bad.

"I'd be the first on to try it?"

"Technically. Though I did... in the real world." Ahern replied. Shepard could see the slightly haunted look on the admiral's face before he got rid of it. "Rules are simple: survive until you're picked up. If you can." At Shepard's questioning expression, Ahern explained, "You'll be ridiculously outnumbered. No real cover to speak of. It's the ultimate worst case-scenario. Of course, it'll only be a simulation." That was no fun, sure chances were it was a combination of a few of the other scenarios but he had grown used to it, as did his team.

"Then up the difficulty. My team and I don't want it easy." Ahern smirked at Shepard.

"You've got balls, Shepard. But it's just a simulation. Even our best VI's aren't as good as the real thing."

"Then turn off the safeties." Ahern looked at him like he was crazy.

"No safeties? Highest level of difficulty? You'll never do it. And then I'll have to explain how a Spectre died on my station." Shepard smirked at the man. If he did it with a small squad like Shepard's during the First Contact War, then he and his team should be able to do it easily.

"You think it's that hard, put your credits where your mouth is. Unless that's too much for you?" Ahern grew nervous at Shepard's tone.

"I don't mind a little wager. But, no... not credits." Shepard looked at him expectantly, wondering what the man would wager. "I've got a nice little retirement place on Intai'sei. I never go there and I don't plan on retiring any time soon. It's yours, if you beat it. And what are you wagering?" Shepard gave the man a deadpan look.

"My life." He said through half-lidded eyes.

"Right. So, you really want the safeties off? If you die, it's getting logged as user error. I'm not losing my job over this." Before Shepard took the wager, he had to know what was he risking his life for.

"What's this place like?"

"It's quiet. Remote. You've practically got the whole planet to yourself. I got a brochure from ExoGeni and they dropped a prefab down on Intai'sei for me, here in Argos Rho cluster. The weather is terrible, but they tell it's a red paradise, whatever that means. What do you say?" Shepard smirked. That sounded like a good place to get away form everything. Looks like he found a summer home.

"Set it up." He said before walking back to his team. While walking away he heard Ahern talk, "Talk to Ochren. I'll make sure he gets the new settings. I'd say good luck, but you'll need a lot more than that." Shepard nodded and continued walking to his team. He informed them of it and what the stakes were. They merely said "bring it on." Shepard walked to Ochren.

"I understand Ahern set up a special simulation." He stated to the salarian. Ochren nodded and began activating it.

"For the record, I'm against turning the safeties off." Shepard smiled.

"I'll be fine." The salarian looked at him. Shepard knew it was thinly veiled concern for him.

"What about my simulator? I'll be making repairs for weeks." Shepard's smile turned into a smirk.

"This should be good." The salarian sighed before looking back at the console. He activated the simulation. Shepard ushered his team to get in with him following them.

"I don't say this very often, but good luck." Ochren called after him. Shepard replied his thanks. As soon as he got to the area he noticed the objective.

'Turians have captured a critical colonist data bank. Eliminate the defenders and retrieve the data bank. Then hold out for evac.' Shepard read internally. So it was like all the trials into one. This should be good. The doors opened up and everyone charged in. The enemies were holograms of old turian forces. The group split into two group with the larger being a distraction. The smaller group took out most of the others in a surprise attack. When the holograms took their attention of the larger group, they left themselves open which destroyed them. Shepard walked over to the data bank and collected what was needed.

'There. Part 1 done, now for part 2.' He thought.

"Heads up, Shepard. The fun's just starting." Ahern said over the intercom. Sniper shot zoomed past Shepard's helmeted head, hitting the tank beside him. He looked and fired at the turian sniper before double backing to where they came from. They had to last five minutes for this one. Shepard would have said it was easy for them, but the enemies kept respawning quicker and quicker. Garrus noticed two surface to air defense turrets. He hacked one of them which helped thin the numbers slightly. He gestured for Tali to get the other one since she was near it. She managed to do so but was heavily wounded by the attack. Ashley and Wrex managed to get to her and bring her back to the group while taking a few out themselves. Kaidan applied the medi-gel to her which got her back up quickly. The group continued to fight with all of their abilities until the timer ran out. He had to admit, he was surprised when the anti-tanks came out with rockets. That was actually somewhat worrying. But in the end they made it out and beat it. Once the team came out, Shepard was greeted by Ahern.

"I never thought I'd see the day. Good work, Shepard. Really good work." Shepard smiled at the praise.

"It was a great challenge. Thanks for setting it up." Ahern's expression turned pensive.

"Makes me wish we had you during the First Contact War. Could've saved a lot of human lives." Ahern got out of it quickly. "And since I'm a man of my word, my retirement home is yours. Too bad. Now that I've seen you beat that scenario, I almost feel like I could retire." Shepard looked at him with wide eyes. He had just met the man today but he gave Shepard the impression that he wasn't the type to retire.

"Are you serious?" Ahern smirked at him.

"Hell no. The day I retire is the day I die. Enjoy that place, Shepard. You earned it." Ahern said. Shepard shook his hand.

"I think I will. It's been a pleasure being here Admiral. Thank you for having us today."

"Call me Ahern. You've earned that too. And feel free to come back here anytime." Shepard nodded in thanks before releasing his hand and walking away to the airlock where the Normandy was stationed.

"So, what do you plan to do with your new place?" Garrus asked as he the rest of the squad came up behind him. Shepard thought it over before smiling.

"We're going to have a 'going away' party." He replied as the airlock came into view.

* * *

 **I won't be getting into Mass Effect 2 just yet. I need to help bridge the gap and give a reason as to why Shepard would be on the Normandy to fit the timeline of the ME Universe. I've already messed with it a couple of times. So I hope you enjoyed this. Please review and favorite. And please give me some ideas for this.**


	2. Poll

I have a new poll up and I need you guys to vote on it if want a new chapter.


	3. Till Next Time

**Let's see if I can get at least three reviews for this one.**

* * *

Recap: "We're going to have a 'going away' party." He replied as the airlock came into view.

* * *

Now

* * *

Shepard ordered Joker to head towards Intai'sei after they were released from Pinnacle Station. Joker had asked about what happened on that station before making a comment about them probably leaving some last damage. Shepard replied with them having set the record on the station's scoreboards. They were so good that he was sure that no one would even try to beat their scores. Joker merely snorted, saying that it would have been nice if their enemies did that more often. Shepard, and a majority of the crew, couldn't help but agree. The Normandy eventually came to Intai'sei and orbited the planet.

"So Shepard. What are we doing here?" Joker asked as the two looked over the planet from the cockpit.

"Well, I won an apartment from Admiral Ahern back on Pinnacle Station and I'd thought we could use it to through a party. You know since we'll be parting ways and all." Joker looked down at that last sentence. That was right. Shepard was going to be leaving the Normandy now that Saren and Sovereign were gone. Shepard saw Joker's expression and sighed.

"Don't think this means I won't keep in contact, Jeff." Shepard said using Joker's real name. The pilot looked at him in surprise before smirking. They both knew each other's real names but still used the nicknames everyone else used or in Shepard's case, his last name.

"Yeah, I mean what would you do without hearing my joke of the day? The horror." Joker snickered making Shepard chuckle. As they got closer to the planet, Joker spoke again, this time with seriousness.

"So, becoming a dad huh? You ready for that?" Shepard hesitated before answering.

"Not really. If I'm being honest, I'm a little nervous. I wasn't exactly raised in the conventional sense, you know?" Joker nodded seeing Shepard's worried expression.

"I think you'll be fine. Come on, you turned out pretty ok-ish." Shepard looked at him curiously.

"-ish?" Joker nodded smirking.

"Yea, I can't say you're completely ok. I mean how many people have we met that get into fights as much as you do? As many times a day as you do?" Shepard rolled his eyes, smirking at his friend. It was true though. Any other person may have snapped already. Or maybe Shepard snapped a long time ago and no one realized it yet. Oh well, no need to worry about that now.

"Whatever." He muttered as the Normandy dropped into Intai'sei's atmosphere. Shepard looked over the terrain as the Normandy closed in on the coordinates Ahern had provided. There were no real cities and whatever forms of civilization were around were in the forms of wind farms and geological survey stations. Shepard noted that the terrain itself was desert and rocky.

'So this is what Ahern meant by 'red paradise.'' Shepard thought.

"Sheesh, this place is like Doctor Chakwas." Joker muttered.

"What? Dried up and hostile to all forms of life?" Shepard muttered as if feeling she'd hear them if they spoke above a whisper. Joker quickly turned his head to Shepard in jaw-dropped shock before snorting at him, trying to hold in his laughter.

"I can't believe you just said that! I was going to say empty, but damn!" Shepard almost busted out laughing.

"You're no better than me! Whatever you do, don't ever mention it anywhere near her! We'll probably be killed." Shepard said reigning in his chuckles.

"You don't think I know that?" Joker said back before the terminal beeped telling them they were close now. Shepard could see a small dot on the horizon as they got closer. Once the scanner said they had arrived, Joker landed the Normandy down. Shepard, still clad in his armor, walked out of the Normandy and towards the house. He looked around and could see why it would be called a red paradise. Quiet and the rock formations were red especially as the sun would set. He noticed a wind farm nearby before coming to the door. He opened and came into a room where decontamination processes began. Once it was done, he walked through and inspected the prefab.

The house was a basic prefabricated structure with a small hallway and a large great room making up both the living space and the bedroom. The hallway consisted of a medical station like the one in the medbay of the Normandy where Shepard usually received a full resupply of medi-gel. More unusually it also contained a grenade dispenser that will replenish the his stock of grenades. Finally, there was a wall of weapons on display, but ready to use, as that is a necessary part of colony life. Shepard walked down the hallway to inspect the main room.

The large quarter-sphere window offered a spectacular view of the planet, the other structures, and the mako which was parked right outside for some reason. The room contained an entertainment screen for playing music, which could be turned on and off via small terminal. A couple of couches, facing the windows, populated the room as well as plants and various house paraphernalia.

Shepard frowned at the bed itself. It was just like the one in the Normandy! A soldier's bed. Granted it served its purpose but that was all it did. No real comfort at all. Mostly a board with a cotton filled pillow on top. He looked back outside and saw his team coming out of the mako. They came over to the airlock and entered before looking around. Kaidan whistled as he looked around.

"Nice place, Shepard. You got this from Admiral Ahern?" Shepard nodded.

"Yeah, won it in that last round with the turian soldiers." Ashley looked at him in amusement.

"Really? An Alliance Admiral bet this?" Shepard nodded and shrugged at the same time. Ashley only chuckled at him and shook her head.

"Only you, Shepard. Only you." Ashley turned back to continue looking around.

"I wonder how much this would cost." Garrus muttered out, wondering.

"I think it might be in the few hundred thousand range." Tali responded as she looked at the TV. Liara was busy looking outside admiring the view. That was when Shepard heard someone whistle.

"Now we're talking." Shepard looked in the hallway to see Wrex messing with the grenade dispenser.

"Don't go blowing up my new place, Wrex." Shepard commented making the krogan look at him.

"Don't worry, Shepard. I'll be trying these out outside." Wrex replied, raising the grenades up as if to show Shepard what he'd be using. Shepard nodded as Wrex walked back out to the door. Garrus seeing the krogan walking out decided to join him. Blowing things up was one of the few things the two could do together. Shepard turned back to the main room and saw both Ashley and Liara looking at the bed with meaningful glances. Shepard felt some excitement at their looks. One last round before they parted ways was going to happen. He also noticed Kaidan was looking at a terminal. Shepard wondered what would be on that terminal since he hadn't checked it yet.

"Shepard, you may want to check this out." Kaidan said ushering Shepard over. He walked over and looked at the terminal. On the screen was a message addressed to Admiral Tadius Ahern by a... blocked sender.

 _"Admiral, the convoy will be positioned in the Phoenix system for the next week or so. I have spoken with the captains regarding our arrangement. As_ _usual, if you are willing to pay the delivery fee, we can get you a sample from our shipments. If not, no problem, these remote colonies can use all they can afford among other things. Goodness knows the Alliance is taking its sweet time to offer any military support. Regards, Hood."_ Shepard raised an eyebrow at the message. Hood? Probably an alias just in case this message was intercepted by some other party. He quickly contacted Ahern who picked up almost immediately.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hello, Ahern. This is Shepard."

"Shepard? How's the apartment?"

"It's nice. Quaint, quiet and homely. A good retirement place to be sure."

"Ah, that's good. I assume this isn't a social call?" Shepard smiled.

"No sir. It's not. I've got a message on the terminal here about a convoy that's staying the system."

"Oh that? You can have at it. If you can pay for it anyway." Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly is on this convoy if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh just supplies for colonies. Food, weapons, armor, and colonial ground defense."

"Really? Hmmm, I might need to take a look at some of those then." Shepard had a few ideas in store for the food itself.

"Like I said, have at it if you can pay for it. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you."

"Your welcome. Hope you come back to make another record here." Shepard laughed.

"Maybe. Goodbye, Admiral Ahern." Shepard said before cutting the connection. He looked at what the convoy was carrying and couldn't help but smirk at it.

'Well, at least we got our food and drinks.' Shepard though as he began ordering.

* * *

A few hours later

* * *

Everything had arrived on schedule. The food and drinks had arrived along with some fireworks, and some other things that Shepard had bought. Cost him nearly 500 thousand credits. The food was mostly human food, however, Shepard managed to get his hands on some dextro rations.

Nachos, pizza, chips n' dip, pigs in a blanket, deviled eggs, devils on horseback, dextro jerky, dextro carrots/celery. The last two were for Garrus and Tali respectively since Shepard remembered their species' couldn't handle levo-based food. Drinks consisted of soda and various alcoholic drinks that could be found around in the galaxy. The night had set in and the entire crew of the Normandy had all come to Shepard's apartment. Shepard had to enlist some help from his crew to prepare the food which was easily made and placed on a table.

There was music playing and people were dancing inside while others had taken the mako for a joy ride. A few of the marines were playing beer pong. Shepard noticed Chakwas was drinking Serrice Ice Brandy. A pretty expensive drink if he remembered correctly. He himself was drinking a beer. It was certainly smoother than must other drinks he had on Omega but it really wasn't the greatest he ever had. He looked around and noticed Garrus was drinking turian brandy while watching Wrex. Shepard watched as Wrex took a drink in a glass jug and lit a match. Shepard raised an eyebrow before his eyes widened.

'He isn't making-?!' Just as he finished that thought, Wrex tossed the match onto the drink. The brown liquid exploded in blue fire catching everyone's attention before it died down. The liquid continued to burn until it rested at the edge of glass. Wrex placed both his armored hands on top of the drink and sealed the opening until the flame died out. Wrex took his hand off of it. Smoke escaped from it before Wrex chugged the drink.

"Wrex, a little warning before you make a Burukh." Shepard called out as Wrex continued to chug. Everyone started chanting 'Chug! Chug! Chug!' as Wrex kept going. The krogan eventually finished it off and everyone cheered. Shepard smiled and shook his head before seeing Tali and Liara drinking. It was amusing seeing Tali drinking through a straw and calling it some kind of port or something while Liara tried to tell her otherwise. Shepard absently noticed her asari honey mead spilling as he turned his head and noticed Kaidan and Ashley weren't inside. He walked outside looking around for them before having to dodge and incoming mako.

"What the hell!" He yelped, coughing as dust picked up around him. He dropped his drink on reflex as his hand reached for a gun that obviously wasn't there. The mako skidded to a halt before the doors opened to reveal Ashley and Kaidan getting out.

"Shepard! Oh my god! Did we get you?" Ashley asked as she got closer to him with Kaidan following close behind.

"No, close though." Shepard replied, dusting his clothes off.

"Told you to slow down Williams." Kaidan said making Ashley glare at him.

"I didn't think anyone else would be coming out, not to mention missing a M-35 Mako barreling toward them." Ashley defended.

"Well, people would definitely see it, but chances are not many would be able to dodge it." Shepard interrupted. Ashley glared at the ground before Shepard pecked her on the cheek. Ashley blushed before allowing a small smile to come across her face as she and Shepard's eyes met. Kaidan merely snorted before backing away at Ashley's new glare. This time accompanied by an annoyed stare from Shepard. Apparently he ruined a moment between the two. Shepard kept socializing as the night dragged on. Having conversations with various crew members, playing a drinking game against Wrex. He lost by only a little. Both Shepard and Joker sat while everyone else danced, except for Wrex who was just shooting at empty bottles everyone left on the ground. Joker didn't dance because his Vrolik Syndrome kept him from making any too exaggerated moves which could hurt him.

Shepard didn't because he sucked at dancing. Liara and Ashley had dragged him up there earlier with him protesting, saying he couldn't dance save his life. They didn't believe him until he started dancing a little. Then everyone laughed at him thinking he was doing an impressive imitation of him having a seizure.

"So you're heading to the Terminus tomorrow huh?" Joker asked from his seat beside Shepard.

"Yeah. Gonna go back to my life of being a vigilante with the addition of being a father." Shepard sighed making Joker raise an eyebrow at him.

"You sure you're ready for that? I mean it's a big responsibility and all." Shepard nodded.

"Yes. I know it's a big deal and all, but I don't see it as something I can just avoid or walk away from and besides..." Shepard felt a small smile form on his lips. "I'm actually looking forward to being a dad." Joker smirked at him.

"Heh, remember that when the kid reaches their teen years and see if you still feel the same way." Shepard chuckled in response. Shepard had a gentle smile on his lips as he stared off into space. He started picturing out how it would be. Watching as Liselle's stomach grew bigger as the months went by, holding her after she was born, her first crawl then steps and her first word. First day of school or whatever education they'd be able to get her. Possible training, the dreaded teenage years, and the list went on before Shepard snapped himself out of his reverie. His mother's words suddenly came to his mind.

 _"You may find that things are not going to be the way you think. Especially regarding your child."_ That brought a chill to Shepard's mind. What did she mean? Not the way he thought? Shepard stored that train of thought away for the moment as the night continued on. Wrex came by and dragged him out along with Garrus so they could take some shots at whatever empty bottles were left over. They even had a little contest that quickly gained attention as they started making trick shots at the bottles. Eventually, several other crewman joined in and the sky was filled with empty bottles that Shepard deviated off the ground with his biotics. Afterwards, Shepard had the perfect thing to top off the night.

"Everyone! Come on and gather around there! I got us a surprise!" He shouted as he pointed to the front of his apartment. Everyone walked over and either stood or sat on the ground. Chakwas brought out a lawn chair for Joker so he could sit in it.

"Here, Jeff." Joker moved over to it and sat in the chair.

"Thanks doc. I thought my feet were going to kill me." Joker replied gratefully. Being buzzed and having a debilitating disease were bad combination for someone standing. Chakwas merely smiled at him before she, along with everyone else, looked at Shepard. The man himself made sure everyone was there before his omni-tool lit up. He brought it up to his face.

"Light it up." He said before shutting his omni-tool off and looking out into the distance. For a few seconds no one could see anything, save for the pitch black darkness of Intai'sei's night sky. Then everyone noticed several lights further away before something exploded in the area and flare fired into the sky. This flare was followed by others a second later before all of them imploded in spectacular explosion. Everyone started making approving noises and clapping as more and more fireworks went off, illuminating the night sky in an array of varying colors going in different patterns and directions. Shepard took a seat between Ashley and Liara who cuddled up next to him. He saw the content and peaceful smiles on theirs faces and he could feel that same smile on his own face. This moment was perfect. He was safe, happy and at peace. He didn't have to worry about anything. At least for the night.

* * *

Two days later...

* * *

All the members of the Normandy crew that Shepard had interacted with the most were outside the apartment along with Shepard, bidding goodbye to their friend and temporary commander. The rest of the crew had already given their goodbyes to Shepard as they made their way from the apartment to the Normandy. Now we find Shepard, his squad, Joker and Dr. Chakwas. Everyone would have left the day before, after the party, but everyone was nursing a hangover from the party, even Wrex. Shepard had taken to pretty much keeping his eyes closed and puking outside. He would have done it all day if the sun hadn't been so hot. He didn't dare use his toilet since most of the crew had commandeered it with Joker front and center, holding onto it for dear life. It wouldn't have been so bad if Chakwas had given him some aspirin. Apparently, Joker was a chatty drunk and squealed about Shepard's mean little joke to Chakwas. So Shepard had to suffer a hangover without any drugs. He got back at Joker by telling Chakwas what he had said and so he suffered the same fate.

The whole group was watching as the crew went to the ship and began getting things ready for take off. Shepard was actually feeling saddened as he watched the Normandy being prepped. That was when Joker waddled up to him.

"You sure you don't want us to drop you off on Omega?" Joker asked. Shepard shook his head.

"No. I doubt the Alliance would be happy to allow their best ship out into the Terminus with thawed things are now. Besides, I don't want every pirate have their eye on her." Shepard nodded to the ship. The pilot looked at the ship before turning back to him. Joker grinned and raised his fist up to him. Shepard smirked at him before raising his own fist and gently bumping it against Joker's. The pilot's grin turned into a smirk before he began walking to the Normandy as Chakwas came up to Shepard. The doctor surprised him by giving him a hug. After a second, Shepard hugged before the let go.

"Take care of yourself, Shepard. Be sure to keep in contact and **_try_** not to get in trouble." Chakwas said making Shepard grin.

"I can do two out of three. You pick." Shepard replied making Chakwas smack him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm joking, of course I will and you better too. I'd hate to find out my favorite, sadistic doctor wasn't doing well and I wasn't there to see it." Chakwas chuckled at him.

"You're terrible. You know that?" Shepard nodded.

"I know, till next time Chakwas." Chakwas nodded before following after Joker. Kaidan came up to him next. The sentinel held his hand out which Shepard took. The two men shook hands with mutual respect.

"Its been fun, Shepard. Shame we have to part ways. Chances are if you joined the Alliance, you'd have be given command of Normandy." Shepard shrugged.

"Someone's got to make sure things are running smoothly in the Terminus. And honestly, I can't see myself in an Alliance uniform. I'm too... undisciplined anyway." Kaidan nodded, knowing it was true.

"Fair enough. Hope to work with again." Kaidan said as he let go.

"Same to you." Garrus came up next. The two shook hands as well.

"So here we are, going back to our old lives." Garrus said with a turian smirk.

"Not exactly. I'm going back with my identity out in the open with a kid on the way and you're going back to become a spectre. We're both going to be in a whole heap of trouble." Shepard replied with a grin making the turian chuckle.

"Too true. See you around, Shepard." Garrus said nodding and walked away. Tali walked up.

"So this is the end of the road, or whatever it is humans say." Tali said looking down. Shepard merely smiled at her statement.

"Not necessarily." She looked up at him with him looking upwards. "It's more like till next we meet." Tali giggled at him before stopping and going quiet. Shepard looked down at her noticing her silence. Tali merely stared at him a couple of seconds before she hugged him.

"I'm going to miss working alongside you, Captain." Shepard hugged her back with a gentle smile.

"Right back at you, Tali." The two parted before Tali walked away. Wrex lumbered up to him. The two didn't shake head but merely smirked at each other in respect.

"It's all kinds of fun, Shepard. You seemed to always find the best fights." Shepard chuckled at him.

"And you always seemed to give the best hits. Remember that one time you hit that human mercenary so hard he flew 10 feet and crapped himself?" Shepard said bursting into chuckles with Wrex doing the same thing.

"Yeah, or about the time when you just glared at that one guy after we tore the place up and he fainted?" Shepard was close to laughing out loud before controlling himself. Wrex took a little longer.

"Ah, good times." Both said at the same time. Both looked at each other, smirking.

"Good luck with the krogan, Wrex." The krogan nodded.

"Good luck out there in the Terminus, Shepard." With that, the battlemaster walked away. Now Liara came up to him. Shepard could see the sadness in her eyes and embraced her.

"I'm going to miss you Liara." He said in a soft whisper. Liara sighed in the embrace, though Shepard could hear the slight sob in it.

"And I will miss you, Shepard." They left the embrace and Shepard could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. Just as they started to fall down her cheeks, he brushed them away before kissing her. It was soft and peaceful and for a moment, there was nothing but them. Their lips parted and the moment was gone. Shepard looked at her with loving eyes which she returned.

"Till next time." He whispered.

"Till next time." She repeated before drifting away from him with a smile gracing her lips. Liara turned away and trekked to the Normandy. Now only Ashley remained. She walked up to him with her arms crossed, looking everywhere but him.

"Ash..." Shepard said trying to get her to look at him.

"It would be easier to just say goodbye and be done with it." She muttered quietly but Shepard heard it all the same.

"But, that wouldn't give us a proper goodbye. Would it?" Shepard said gently. Ashley still didn't look at him, but he could see she was now fighting not to look at him.

"It's just... you're going away now and I'm going back to the Alliance and we probably won't see each other again and-" Shepard cut her off by wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her up to him before delivering a chaste kiss to her. He felt her stiffen at first before she relaxed into him. Her arms wrapped around to his back before her hands gripped his broad shoulders. Their kiss lasted a moment longer before parting. Neither spoke a word nor opened their eyes as they held one another with their foreheads touching. A few moments later, Shepard broke the silence.

"Is that better?" Ashley snorted at him, not leaving the embrace at all.

"You're an idiot." She said affectionately. Shepard smirked at her knowing it wasn't mean at all.

"The idiot you fell in love with." He retorted.

"You got me there, skipper." They both opened their eyes and gazed at one another before parting.

"See you around, Ashley."

"Right back at you, skipper." With that she turned around and walked to the Normandy. Shepard placed his hands in his pockets as he watched her go until she disappeared inside it. The Normandy closed all open hatches until Shepard heard the familiar roar of the engines. He watched as his shi-no, former ship lifted off and began flying away. As soon as the Normandy was out of sight going into the atmosphere, Shepard noticed the silence and wasn't comfortable with it. He could feel the absence of his crew already and it was slightly depressing.

"Isaac, did you send for our personal fighter?" Shepard asked. Long before even going to Eden Prime, Shepard foresaw that he could lose his ship and be stranded on some world and so he and Isaac had been making plans of creating a fighter. They had managed to get the schematics from older models of both Turian and Alliance fighters that had been scrapped on the old station. Those plans had been updated due Shepard having abused his spectre status at one point after Noveria and found the modern schematics. Not only that but both Shepard and Isaac had fused and improved the design. Most fighters are equipped for attacking larger ships while other are equipped for attacking only fighters. This fighter was capable of harming all types of ships as well as traversing the relay network without the need for a Carrier.

"Yes, I did. It has been on its way since this morning and will arrive by tonight." Isaac replied, checking his calculations.

"Good, then that gives me enough time to do what I wish." Shepard said as he made his way back to the apartment.

"Upgrading the armor? Is that why you bought all those mods from that convoy?" Shepard nodded absentmindedly.

"Yes." Shepard had made it his goal of making a better, if somewhat illegal, armor for himself. He wasn't stupid. Now that he wasn't with his team and was going back into the Terminus 'alone,' he needed to make better armor to protect himself since nearly everyone in the galaxy knew who he was. No doubt all the enemies he'd made would be coming for him now.

"You know that Colossus armor can only have two types of upgrades right? You've already filled it with a medical exoskeleton and a shield interface."

"Yea, I know. I'll only use two then." Shepard said as he kept walking. Isaac didn't say anything t first trying to discern the meaning by Shepard's until he figured it out.

"You are going to fuse them." It wasn't a question. Shepard smirked at his friend's statement.

"You know me so well." If Isaac were an organic, he would have sighed at his friend and maker's attitude. Out of all the organics he had seen, Shepard was still the most innovative of them all. Thought that might be due to the fact Shepard normally hung around people who had no care for technology passing the 'aim and fire' approach. But still, someone had to make sure his crazy organic wouldn't kill himself by making a potentially dangerous invention.

"Alright, let's see what you have. We already know what you have installed in your armor. What did you buy?" Shepard thought over what he had bought as he began to list them.

"I bought other exoskeleton mods: combat and kinetic. There was also and energized weave and a stimulant pack." Isaac began calculating all those upgrades together in combination with the Colossus armor that Shepard would put them into.

"So your shields would be incredibly strong without you even focusing on them. You'll be able to hit harder, take damage that would pass your shields, if they can, easier; be able to resist toxins and heal faster than you normally do as well as accurately target while running better and also be able to use your powers in faster succession. Did I miss anything?" Shepard shook his head as he made it to the door and opened it before entering.

"Not really, no."

"Do you think you might be too strong?" Shepard thought over Isaac's words carefully as he walked into the living room and began unpacking his armor and all the mods. He was more adept in every common military combat than most others which gave him a big edge in a fight. Not to mention his advanced weaponry, high class amp and omni-tool. Then there is also his natural healing which made a big difference in a fight, but the part that had made him so dangerous when he it was just him and Isaac was their secrecy. No one knew who he was, not even the Shadow Broker. That kept the slavers, pirates and assassins off of his trail and away from his house. Now that his identity was out in the open, there was a big chance that they would find him. Even with all of his abilities and resources, he was unable to take on organizations face to face. That was why he needed to make this armor and that would only allow him some brief respite.

"No Isaac. I dare say I'm more vulnerable than I've ever been since I became the Ghost." Shepard replied as he began to take apart the exoskeletons and started looking for a way to make them work as one while being able to fit in a single piece of armor. Unknown to Shepard, his instincts were right on the money.

* * *

Out in space

* * *

A single batarian frigate sat at the edge of the system, just out of sensor range. It was watching as the Normandy flew from Intai'sei and straight into the relay network.

"The Normandy is headed into the relay. Sending known coordinates for it. Be ready to take it. The Ghost will pay for what he has done." The batarian captain said as sent the information over the link.

"Transmission received, Captain. Be ready for further orders and confirmation of Ghost being aboard the humans' ship." Came the reply.

"Acknowledged. Will wait for further orders, Commander Balak. Long live the Hegemony!"

"Long live the Hegemony!" The transmission cut off and the captain sat in his chair waiting for orders. Finally, the Ghost would be brought to justice. Finally, Shepard would feel the cold sting of revenge. All that was needed to do now was wait.

* * *

 **I will say it now. I'm sorry that I took so long. College keeps one distracted as well as a bad case of laziness and having a mild fever. But I'm here. Now the next thing that I'll be updating is my Dragon Age Origins: Prequel. It has been too** **long and I'm starting to get more ideas about.**

 **(Rant coming on, sorry.)**

 **Now, I don't want anyone whining about me to like abandon it. Heck no! That is more original than this story. Admittedly not as interesting, but I take pride in the fact I managed to take it as far as I've gotten it without understanding much of the mechanics behind the DA universe and I won't abandon it. That being said, I'm was a little sad that not many voted for it. Don't get me wrong I understand why, but I thought it would be better than 27-5! Thank God that Omegas Prime liked it so much that he is going to try and emulate it. (Looking forward to it by the way Prime) That was enough of a pick-me-up to get me to finish this chapter and go back to writing my DA.**

 **(Rant over.)**

 **Okay, you guys might not be seeing this story updated anytime soon. (Though those of you who have been following me since the** **beginning know I tend to be fairly regular than others) I hope you enjoyed this and feel the need to either favorite, follow, or my personal favorite, review. Have a good day.**


	4. DON'T PUSH THAT BUTTON!

Hey I've got a new poll going out and I want you all to vote on it. I believe you will be most interested in it.


	5. It's on!

ME2: GotT is on!


	6. A favor for a friend

Hey for those of you who enjoy stories with OCs and/or multi-class characters or just like Dragon Age there is a new story that has just popped up by fellow writer and reader Omegas Prime. Please rate and support him as you all have supported me.


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